'Queen' Lorna Simbi chases glory in Commonwealth Games

Boxer Lorna Kusa Simbi’s middle name literally translates to ‘queen mother caterpillar’ in her Luhya dialect. In her culture, people born during a season when the destructive insects are aplenty are named ‘Kusa.’

Well, “queen” Simbi is not in line for the throne but just like the ravenous caterpillars that destroy plants, she is in a mission to destroy her opponents in the ring in her first appearance at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.

“I want to shine in Gold Coast to be declared the queen of welterweight,” Simbi told Nation Sport in a ringside interview at Nakuru Amateur Boxing Club, popularly known as ‘Madison Square Garden Gymnasium’ before the team’s departure to Australia.

“Being asthmatic, one day my mother found me unconscious on the floor and the first person to respond to her calls of distress was the late boxing coach James Odongo, who administered first aid on me and helped my mum take me to hospital,” recalls Simbi, the second-born in a family of one boy and a girl.

“Coach Odongo advised my mother on how to manage the condition and urged her to allow me to attend gym sessions and this greatly helped me to avoid using the inhaler,” said Simbi, who started boxing at the age of 9.

“This is one of the greatest benefits of boxing that I will live to cherish. I feel so sad when I see parents discouraging their daughters from joining this beautiful game,” she said.

Her first international fight was in 2010 in Barbados in the World Championships where she lost to an Indian opponent on points in the featherweight berth.

“It was my first international outing and I underrated my opponent. I learnt one big lesson and every time I climb the ring I take every local and international match seriously,” she says. Born 26 years ago in the slums of Korogocho in Nairobi, Simbi dropped out of school at Form Three at Be The Change Secondary School in Huruma after she got pregnant and gave birth to her daughter who is now eight years old. She also has a son named after American boxing legend Floyd Mayweather.

“My two children and my mother Dorcas Akon are my greatest boxing fans and when I see them on the ringside I fight like it is my last match.”

Lorna says life in the slums is a daily struggle and says boxing has helped her stay away from drugs that have destroyed the lives of many of her peers.

“Boxing talent is in the ghettos and with my backround, I train hard to lift myself and my family from the tough life. I would not like to live in the ghetto forever,” she says. Her highest moment as a boxer was when she played her first grudge match against a local policewoman and won.

“The policewoman thought she would outsmart me but in the end I turned the tables and beat her,” says Simbi. Her lowest moment was when she was dropped from Team Kenya contingent for 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

“My mother was lying at home with a serious leg injury and I was hoping to make the team and spend part of my allowance to take her to hospital. I have never been so heartbroken like that.” She attributes her rise to coach Ken Otieno of Kentrack Boxing Club at Kibra, Nairobi, who lured her back to the game when she wanted to quit after she was dropped from the Glasgow-bound team.

PROFILE

Date of birth: November 8, 1992

Place of birth: Nairobi County

Marital status: Single with two children

Medals won: nil

Major competitions: World boxing championships, Indian inaugural international tournament